MIDEAST TENSIONS; Baghdad Says It Will Free 78 of 305 Japanese Held

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Stepping up its policy of using hostage releases to deter a war over Kuwait, Iraq announced today that it would reward the visit to Baghdad of Yasuhiro Nakasone, the former Japanese Prime Minister, by freeing 78 of the 305 Japanese citizens it has held since the Kuwait invasion.

The Iraqi announcement, after two meetings in Baghdad between Mr. Nakasone and President Saddam Hussein, meant that the former Japanese leader will be returning to Tokyo with the second largest group of male hostages yet released by Baghdad, after the 298 French citizens who were released and flown to Paris last week. But it appeared to fall short of the hopes of Mr. Nakasone, who arrived in Baghdad at the weekend aboard a chartered Boeing 747 with 350 seats.

The Iraqis also announced that 31 other foreign hostages would be freed -- 20 Italians, 5 Swedes, 2 Germans, 2 Portuguese, and 2 Australians.

On Wednesday, President Hussein is expected to make a similar move in response to the visit to Baghdad of Willy Brandt, the former West German Chancellor. Mr. Brandt, who arrived in Baghdad in the face of strong opposition from some of Germany's European partners, will be seeing the Iraqi leader on Wednesday, and has said that he hopes to win the release of a substantial number of hostages, among them at least some of the 400 Germans held by Baghdad. Ex-Danish Premier Visits

The journeys of Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Brandt are part of a quickening pilgrimage to Baghdad by prominent politicians from countries that have aligned themselves with the international alliance that has formed against Iraq's seizure of Kuwait. In August, the first such visit was made by Kurt Waldheim, the Austrian President, who returned to Vienna with more than 70 Austrian hostages.

In mid-October, the visitor was Edward Heath, the former British Prime Minister, and he left for London with 40 British hostages. Also in October, there were two visits to Baghdad by a top Soviet official, Yevgeny A. Primakov, who won undertakings from President Hussein on both occasions for the release of Soviets working in Iraq.

David Lange, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, has been in New Delhi, the Indian capital, awaiting a visa to make a similar mission to Baghdad, and Anker Joergensen, a former Danish Prime Minister, is in Amman, the Jordanian capital, also awaiting a visa. Opposition by Thatcher

Danish diplomats here said it appeared that Iraq had decided to delay Mr. Joergensen's visit so that it followed those of Mr. Nakasone and Mr. Brandt, and thus allowed Baghdad to gain maximum publicity abroad for each of the visits.

So far, there appear to be no plans for a visit to Baghdad by any American politician of a stature similar to that of the Japanese and European leaders, perhaps because of the oppposition that has been expressed by the Bush Administration to anything that encourages the Baghdad Government to believe that holding the hostages gives it political leverage in the confrontation over Kuwait.

The American position has been echoed to greater or lesser degree in virtually all of the countries that have had politicians petitioning for the hostage releases in Baghdad, particularly Britain.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is said to have strenuously opposed Mr. Heath's visit, and Britain's objections to Mr. Brandt's visit were expressed strenuously today in Rome, when the foreign ministers of the European Economic Community met to discuss the issue. European Community Stance

The foreign ministers concluded their meeting by reiterating a position that had been taken by community leaders in Rome on Oct. 28, when they agreed not to send any official delegations to Baghdad seeking hostage releases and to discourage private initiatives.

"We say publicly so that Iraq can hear it, that its use of hostages to divide governments can dangerously complicate the gulf crisis," said Gianni de Michelis, the Italian Foreign Minister.

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From Iraq's standpoint, several of the visits have paid off handsomely, to the extent that the politicians involved have used their sojourns in Baghdad to argue against the use of military force to oust Iraq from Kuwait.

Mr. Nakasone, who had said before leaving Tokyo that his trip was to be entirely humanitarian, was quoted today in Iraq's Defense Ministry newspaper, Al Qadissiyah, as having said in an interview that he opposed a military solution. 'A Catastrophe for All'

"I believe that this problem could be solved through peaceful negotiations," Mr. Nakasone said. "If war breaks out, it will be a catastrophe for all. There will be no winner or loser. It will afflict all with no exceptions."

Mr. Brandt, who met in Baghdad on Tuesday with the Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, and with Deputy Prime Minister Taha Yassin Ramadan, made similar remarks in an interview with another Government-run newspaper, Al Jumhouriya.

"I came to Baghdad to ripen a peaceful solution," th paper quoted him as saying. Noting that he intended to present his peace proposals to Mr. Hussein, the former German leader added, "I believe that all parties involved in the crisis should resort to dialogue, including America."

Mr. Heath saved his criticism of American policy for his return to London. But last week, after President Bush said he had "had it" with Iraq's treatment of trapped Americans, Mr. Heath called the American leader's remarks irresponsible and said the United States should be seeking to promote a dialogue between Iraq and Kuwait. Use of Political Leverage

With the releases announced today, including the 78 the Japanese Foreign Ministry said will be freed, Iraq will have allowed a total of about 700 male hostages to leave in the last two months. But at least 3,000 other Westerners remain, with Americans and Britons the largest groups.

Iraq has said that all those remaining will be let go if it receives guarantees against a military attack from the United Nations Security Council, or from two of five countries it named last week, China, France, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union. IRAQ AND TOKYO'S GULF STANCE

TOKYO, Nov. 6 (Special to The New York Times) -- As Iraq today told Mr. Nakasone, that it would immediately release 78 Japanese hostages, there were signs that the action may have been intended as a reward for Tokyo's nonparticipation in the multinational force being assembled to confront President Hussein.

The hostages are expected to fly out of Baghdad on Wednesday with Mr. Nakasone and a delegation from the governing Liberal Democratic Party.

But Japanese Government officials were clearly worried today that they would be accused of breaking with the alliance against Iraq to win the release of their citizens, especially after a major Japanese newspaper said that Mr. Nakasone made a point of the fact that Japan had sent no troops to the Persian Gulf.

Tonight Japan's Foreign Ministry said there was "no deal and no quid pro quo" for the release of the hostages.

A version of this article appears in print on November 7, 1990, on Page A00018 of the National edition with the headline: MIDEAST TENSIONS; Baghdad Says It Will Free 78 of 305 Japanese Held. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe